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Economic policy has taken something of a back seat in a French presidential campaign initially focused on cultural and identity issues, then overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. But as the country prepares for the April 10 first round, the various candidates are offering different visions of France’s economic future.
The French economy performed better than expected after the calamitous effects of the Covid crisis, with 7 percent growth in 2021 – higher than Germany, Italy and Spain. Unemployment sank to 7.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, its lowest rate since 2008.
But despite President Emmanuel Macron’s “whatever it takes” approach – throwing as many resources as necessary at dealing with the fallout from Covid – France’s public debt remains substantial, at 112.9 percent of GDP in 2021 (although down from 115.7 percent in 2020), according to the national statistics office INSEE. France was the only country in Europe to see public spending surpass 60 percent of GDP in 2020.
FRANCE 24 looks at what all the candidates are proposing on the economy.
Centrist
Emmanuel Macron has moved to the right on cultural issues since entering the Élysée Palace in 2017, along with the centre ground of the French electorate. But on economic policy he remains true to the en même temps (“at the same time”) approach at the core of his original presidential campaign, keeping a foot in both the centre-right and the centre-left.
The incumbent and favourite wants to renew the dirigiste (interventionist) approach Charles de Gaulle used in the 1960s for the fourth industrial revolution – proposing to pump €30 billion into high-tech industries including semiconductors, space exploration and the life sciences.
Macron is looking anew to protectionist policies – much like those favoured by his main election rival, nationalist-populist Marine Le Pen – and is looking for a…
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Source : france24
